Expandable tote bag

ABSTRACT

A TOTE BAG ADAPTED TO BE EXPANDABLE COMPRISING A PAIR OF OPPOSING FRONT AND REAR WALLS AND PAIR OF OPPOSING SIDES, THE BAG BEING BOTTOMED AT ONE END THEREOFF AND OPENABLE AT THE OTHER END THEREOF, EACH OF SAID FRONT AND REAR WALLS BEING ASSOCIATED WITH MEANS FOR INCREASING THE LATERAL DIMENSION OF SAID BAG

United States Patent [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/l922La Roche.t.v..........l....,4

[72] inventors Morris J. Berry;

Louis Wells. both of Brooklyn. NIY. 807,644

[2| 1 Appl. No. [22) Filed X 0 3 I, O 5

1,426,485 2, 4xs,ss9 3,120,252

Mar. 17, 1969 Patented June 28, 1971 ISO/1.6

4/1947 Liftonm... 2/1964 Lifton...........................

Primary Examiner- Donald F. Norton [731 Assignee Fashioncraft-ExcelloBrooklyn, N.Y.

Attorney-Friedman & Goodman [54] EXPANDABLE TOTE BAG ABSTRACT: A totebag adapted tobe expandable comprising a pair of opposing front and rearwalls and a pair of opposing sides, the bag being bottomed at one endthereof and openable at the other end thereof, each of said front andrear walls being associated with means for increasing the lateral dimence .m M a S f O n .m S 20 0 wm 9 MM /I 00 4 mw W 5 m m .l u 5 O mm 3 .n 0"n 5 mm mh c n-l m IJ d Ind he: 0 55 ii PATENTEU JUH28 15m SHEET 1 OF 3Attornu ys PATENIEI] Juuzslsn 3587.795

sum 2 OF 3 INVENTOR.

MORRIS .l'. BERRY BY I LOUIS 28 F I G 4 26 \i/ ltg-mtr y/ J LQ]Attorneys IllLlll EXPANDABLE TOTE BAG BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1.Field of the Invention:

The invention relates to improvements in hand luggage and morespecifically to a tote bag which is adapted to be expanda ble.

2. Description and Prior Art There are, of course, many types of handluggage known to the art; some are insulated for carrying perishables,others are provided with pockets for carrying baby bottles, for example,and others are provided with various zipper arrangements which providefor completely opening the bag.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is among one of the principal objectives ofthe invention to provide a tote bag which will be adapted to beexpandable in its lateral dimension. The invention bag comprises a pairof opposing front and rear walls and a pair of opposing sides, the bagbeing bottomed at one end thereof and openable at the other end thereof,each of said front and rear walls being associated with means forincreasing the lateral dimension of said bag. In another embodiment, thebag is provided with interior walls for rendering the interior of thebag in compartmented form, which compartments are connected to theexpanding wall means. Access means are also provided through one of thewalls communicating with its respective compartments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will be hereinafter morefully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective showing the inventive bag in itsexpanded condition.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 in thedirection of the arrows.

FIG. 3 is a front plan view of the inventive bag.

FIG. 4 is an end view ofthe bag shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view in fragmented form taken along line 5-5 ofFIG. 4 in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 6 is a fragmented view of one-half of the inventive bag in anotherembodiment with portions thereof shown partially cutaway.

FIG. 7 is a fragmented view of yet another embodiment of the inventionshowing exterior access means into the interior of the bag providedalong a sidewall of the bag.

FIG. 8 is a front plan view partially cut away showing the interior ofthe bag according to the embodiment shown by FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the FIGS. indetail wherein like parts will be identified by like reference numerals,and specifically to FIGS. 16, there is shown therein a tote bag 10comprising a longitudinal front wall 12 and an opposing longitudinalrear wall 14 and having a pair of opposing transverse sides 16 and 18connected to the front and rear walls in a manner which will be morefully set'forth hereinbelow. The bag 10 is bottomed as at 21 and is openat the top, being adapted to be closeable and openable by means ofcooperating flaps and 22 located at the upper end of the bag. Flap 20 ishingedly and preferably integrally connected to the upper end 40 offront wall 12 and flap 22 is similarly hingedly and preferablyintegrally connected to the upper end 42 of rear wall 14. When the bagis in the closed condition, flap 20 is folded inside flap 22 whichresultingly closes the bag, fiap 20 being supported by the upper ends44, 46 of sides 16 and 18, respectively. A conventional lockingmechanism 24 may be provided in cooperating fashion upon the twoopposing flaps 20 and 22, with a locking key 48 centrally provided onflap 20 and a locking slot 51 provided in a cooperating position on flap22. The bag may be made of any suitable flexible material, such as aconventional fabric or plastic.

According to one fonn of the invention, the bag is adapted to beexpandable by providing gusseted interconnecting means between the frontwall and rear walls 12 and 14, opposing sides 16 and I8, and bottom 21.

The gusseted interconnecting means further comprise a gusset 26connecting front wall 12 with side walls 16 and I8 and bottom 21 and agusset 28 connecting rear wall 14 with sidewalls I6 and 18 and bottom21. Thus, the gussets 26, 28 resultingly extend into the interior 30 ofthe bag, as can be readily seen by viewing FIGS. 2 and 4, for example.When the interior 30 of the bag is empty, or only partially filled, thewalls 12 and 14 will lie flat against the opposing sides 16 and 18,giving the appearance of a conventional bag. When the bag is filledsubstantially to its capacity, the sidewalls 12 and 14 will beresultingly expanded by virtue of the pressure brought to bear thereuponby the bulk of the articles contained therein, this expansion beingallowed by virtue of the gussets moving outwardly in the direction ofthe arrows shown in FIG. 4. Thus, the bag is resultingly adapted,according to the invention, to be laterally expandable, and as in theinstant case, expandable in its transverse dimension. However, it is tobe understood that the inventive concept would be applicable to either asquare or rectangular-shaped bag. The connection between each gusset andits respective wall, side and bottom portion is preferably achieved bysewing, as at 50, along the adjoining peripheral edges. However, at eachof the upper corners 52, 54 and 56, 58 of front and rear walls 12 and14, respectively, the sewing is supplemented by a rivet 60 securing thefront wall 12, gusset 26 and opposing sides 16, 18, and rear walls 14,gusset 28 and opposing sides 16, 18. The result of this rivetalsecurement is to render the sidewalls nonexpandable at those said uppercorners. In other words, the sidewalls are expandable in a decreasingfashion from the bottom 21 upwardly toward the top of the bag, thegreatest expansion being at the bottom of the bag, and so forth.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the gussets 26, 28which communicate into the interior 30 of the bag, as earlier described,instead of only partially extending into the interior of the bag, may beinwardly and upwardly extended from the stitching border 50 to aposition just below the upper edges of the front and rear walls 12 and14, thereby resultingly forming a pocket or compartment 62, 64 along theinside front wall 12A and rear wall 14A, respectively. Thus, the bag 10,rather than having only a single interior compartment 30, now ismulticompartmented. It is to be understood that even though pockets arenow formed that the stitching (or other type of securement such asstapling or gluing) must be present at all times in order to maintainthe gusseted interconnecting means, described hereinabove, which renderthe bag expandable.

In another form of the inventive bag, exterior access means into one orboth pockets 62, 64 can be provided. The access means can comprise ahorizontal slot 68 cut into the exterior face 66 of front wall 12 (orrear wall 14), and preferably the slot is rendered openable andcloseable by means of a zipper 70. Another pocket 74, inside pocket 62or 64, can be sewn into the inside wall 12A or 14A. In the usualconstruction of the bag, carrying means, comprising a flexible handle72, are attached to the front and rear walls of the bag. This, ofcourse, would be a desirable construction when the bag would be used forcarrying heavier articles; however, in a smaller version of the bag thecarrying means would not be essential since the bag could be very easilytucked under the arm of the user.

Thus, in accord with the objectives of the invention, there is provideda novel tote bag which, by virtue of its new construction, has beenadapted to be expandable thereby creating a highly utilizable luggagepiece.

We claim:

1. An expandable tote bag comprising a pair of opposing planar front andrear walls and a pair of opposing planar sides, said bag including aplanar bottom at one end thereof and being openable at the other endthereof, said bottom being secured to said opposing sides with saidbottom and opposing sides being provided with similar widths to define arectangulat-shaped bag, said bag being closeable and openable by meansof cooperating planar flaps, said flaps being hingedly connected toupper ends of said front and rear walls with said flaps being supportedby upper ends of said opposing sides in the closed position, wherein oneflap folds inside another flap, each of said front and rear walls beingassociated with means for increasing the lateral dimension of said bag.

2. A bag according to claim 1, wherein said bag is adapted to beexpandable by providing gusseted interconnecting means between saidfront and rear walls, said opposing sides and said bottom.

3. A bag according to claim 2, wherein means secure upper comers of saidfront and rear walls to said opposing sides to render said gussetedinterconnecting means nonexpandable at said upper corners, said bag thusbeing expandable in a decreasing fashion from said bottom upwardlytoward the openable other end thereof with greatest expansion being atsaid bottom of said bag.

4. A bag according to claim 3, wherein said gusseted interconnectingmeans further comprise a first gusset connecting said front wall withsaid opposing sides and said bottom and a second gusset connecting saidrear wall with said opposing sides and said bottom.

5. A bag according to claim 4, wherein said gussets are secured to saidfront wall, rear wall opposing sides and bottom by means of stitching.

6. A bag according to claim 4, wherein each of said gussets is inwardlyand upwardly extended into the interior of said bag forming a pair ofseparate compartments therein, each lying along the respective insideportions of said front and rear walls.

7. A bag according to claim 6, wherein exterior access means areprovided communicating into at least one of said compartments.

8. A bag according to claim 6, wherein a pocket is provided inassociation with said exterior access means inside at least one of saidcompartments.

9. An expandable tote bag comprising a pair of opposing longitudinalfront and rear walls and a pair of opposing transverse sides, said bagbeing bottomed at one end thereof and openable at the other end thereof,each of said front and rear walls being associated with means forincreasing the transverse dimension of said bag, said increasing meansincluding gussets disposed between and interconnecting said front andrear walls, said opposing sides and said bottom, and means securingupper corners of said front and rear walls to said opposing sides torender said gussets nonexpandable at said upper corners, said bag thusbeing expandable in a decreasing fashion from said bottom upwardlytoward the openable other end thereof with greatest expansion being atsaid bottom of said bag.

10. An expandable tote bag comprising a pair of opposing front and rearwalls and a pair of opposing sides, said bag being bottomed at one endthereof and openable at the other end thereof, each of said front andrear walls being associated with means for increasing the lateraldimension of said bag, said bag being adapted to be expandable byproviding gusseted interconnecting means between said front and rearwalls, said opposing sides and said bottom, said gussetedinterconnecting means further comprise a first gusset connecting saidfront wall with said opposing sides and said bottom and a second gussetconnecting said rear wall with said opposing sides and said bottomwherein each of said gussets is inwardly and upwardly extended into theinterior of said bag forming a pair of separate compartments therein,each lying along the respective inside portions of said front and rearwalls and wherein exterior access means are provided communicating intoat least one of said compartments, a pocket being provided inassociation with said exterior access means inside at least one of saidcompartments, and means securing upper corners of said front wall tosaid opposing sides and securing upper corners of said rear wall to saidopposing sides to render said first and second gussets, respectively,nonexpandable at said upper corners, said bag thus being expandable in adecreasing fashion from said bottom upwardly toward the openable otherend thereof with greatest expansion being at said bottom of said bag.

